Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, GOP leaders tout savings

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Two months before a critical vote for the state's General Fund budget, Gov. Robert Bentley and Republican leaders touted changes they said will trim hundreds of millions of dollars from the cost of state government.

Bentley said state leaders were on track to achieve a goal of trimming a billion dollars on average from the annual cost of state government. Much of the savings so far have come from reductions in the number of state employees and the benefits they receive.

"The bottom line is this, we made a promise to the voters to right-size Alabama government, and we're living up to that promise," Bentley said in a press conference.

Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey, Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard and Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh joined Bentley at the press conference.

"We are reaching that perfect balance between the size of government and making sure we provide the services that are needed," Hubbard, R-Auburn, said.

Bentley said it was important for voters to know what elected leaders already have done to try to cut the size and cost of government.

"We have saved this. However, we don't have enough," Bentley said.

The proposed amendment would give the General Fund $145.8 million from the Alabama Trust Fund in each of the next three fiscal years. The Alabama Trust Fund is a savings account fueled by lease royalties from natural gas wells in state waters.

Bentley said actions undertaken by his administration and the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature will save the state on average $675 million-a-year in "current and projected savings."

The figures included an estimated savings of $181 million a year from the loss of 3,000 state employees since 2011. Bentley said many of those reductions were from people who retired.

Bentley also factored in savings from pension benefit changes for teachers and state employees hired in 2013 and later, although it will take decades for the state to reap much of those savings. Bentley said he wasn't trying to suggest the state was seeing large immediate savings from the change, but that it was an important change to make.

"We're talking years down the road," Bentley said.The Legislative Fiscal Office estimated that, between 2013 and 2043, the change will save the state $5.05 billion, although the savings would be miniscule for the first few years.

While Republicans touted their savings, a top Democrat criticized them.

House Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, said much of the state savings has come at the expense of teachers, state employees and local police and firefighters who participate in the state retirement system. Ford said additionally the state's Medicaid program was on the verge of "collapse."

"If you were born with money, then maybe you don't feel the pain of these cuts. ... We have cut state budgets to the bone. Any more cuts would be dangerous and irresponsible," Ford said.